This website is devoted to the extraordinary mystics and visionaries of the Church, especially those who are lesser known, such as St Gemma Galgani, Blessed Alexandrina da Costa, Sr Consolata Betrone, Therese Neumann, Rev. Pere Lamy, Gabrielle Bossis, Josefa Menendez, Marthe Robin, Servant of God Louise Lateau, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, Sister Mary of the Holy Trinity, Sister Maria Antonia and others. The author endeavors always to be in communion with the Catholic Church and its teachings.

The miraculous intercession of St Therese of Lisieux in the lives of 6 Mystics

By: Glenn Dallaire

When studying the lives of the Mystics of the Church, certain remarkable facts come to light. One of these would certainly be the extraordinary appearences of Saint Therese "the Little Flower" in the lives of the mystics. In light of this St Therese, it seems, could perhaps be condidered a "Patroness of Mystics". And then again, did she not write in her Autobiography-- "I will spend my heaven doing good upon the earth. I will let fall a shower of roses"

Servant of God, Brother Marcel Van C.Ss.R.-The spiritual brother of St Therese
Brother Marcel Van strongly desired to become a saint, but was frightened at the austere sacrifices that he thought were necessary to becoming one. He wrote in his Autobiography: “In spite of my great desire to attain holiness, I was certain that I would never achieve it, because to be a saint, you have to fast, lash yourself with a whip, wear a rock around your neck and little chains covered with spikes, a coarse horsehair shirt, endure the cold, the scabies, etc...My God, if it is like this, then I give up... All that is way too much for me.” The appearance of St Therese of Lisieux –The Story of a Soul One day, Van spread out on a table books on the lives of many Saints. He said a prayer, asking God to guide him, promising that he would read whatever book his hand fell upon. Then, with his eyes closed, he put his hand down at random. “I opened my eyes. My hand was resting on a book I had never read before—“The Story of a Soul" by Saint Therese of the Child Jesus.”

Marcel Van quickly looked over the book—one that he had never read before, but dismissed it as containing nothing unusual. But he soon reproached himself saying “Ah, by acting like this, you have broken your promise!” I then took the book again with my head full of muddled questions—‘What is this “Story of a Soul”??? Who is this St. Therese of the Child Jesus??? Where did she come from???’ What is certain is that is that she resembles many thousands of other saints.’

“Then I summarized her life in an amusing manner in these terms---'Since her birth until her last breath she had many ecstasies, and performed a number of miracles. She fasted on bread and water only taking one meal a day. She spent the night in prayer and gave herself to discipline until she bled. After her holy death her body emitted a very pleasant fragrance and many extraordinary things happened at her tomb. Finally she was canonized by the holy Church...etc...’

“Today I see clearly how rash these statements were without knowing anything about St. Therese. I had dared to sketch out her life in such a summary manner. Oh my dear sister, you must necessarily be a Saint of great courage to put up with me and the foolish statements that I made about you!”As promised, Van then began to read the book. He states:“I had scarcely read a few pages when two floods of tears were flowing down my cheeks...What moved me so deeply was little Therese's reasoning:'If God only stooped to the level of the most beautiful flowers, the symbol of the Holy Doctors, His love wouldn't be quite absolute, because it is Love's nature to stoop to the farthest limit... Just as the sun shines at the same time on the cedars and on every little flower as if it were the only one on earth, so does Our Lord take care of every soul as if there were no other soul like it'

“I understood then that God is Love... Like St Therese, I can sanctify myself through all my little acts... A smile, a word or a look, provided that everything is done in love. What happiness!....From now on, sanctity will no longer frighten me....my tears were flowing like an inexhaustible spring.”

“I had received therefore, that afternoon, a source of grace and happiness. “The Story of a Soul” had become my dearest friend, and followed me everywhere and I did not cease reading or rereading it, without ever getting weary of it. There was nothing in this volume which did not conform to my thoughts, and what pleased me even more in the course of my reading was to see clearly the spiritual life of Therese was identical to mine. Her thoughts, even her yes or no were in harmony with my own thoughts, and the little events of my life. Truly, never in my life have I met a book which was so well adapted to my thinking and feelings as is “The Story of a Soul”. I can confess that the story of Therese's soul is the story of my soul....”

The next morning, Van woke up and kneeled before the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary and prayed: “... Blessed Virgin, my Mother: Today is truly the first day that I have been given to taste such a sweet happiness; the day which introduces me to a new way.... From now on, my Mother, guide me in my new way to teach me to love God perfectly, and to offer myself to Him in total confidence. I dare to express a wish to you: That I may be wrapped in your love, as was formerly Therese, the Little Flower. I even wish you to give me this Saint as my guide in her “Little Way”. Oh what happiness there would then be for me since I feel that my life cannot free itself from the feelings of childhood that God has engraved in my soul as an innate gift”

Then turning to Jesus, he prayed: “Oh Jesus, my only and beloved master, you know that I love you and look only to respond to your wishes. You have aroused in my mind the desire to become a saint. Then, you made me find, in a very simple manner, the “Little Way” by which you guided St. Therese of the Child Jesus. You have used the hand of this little Saint to write for the use of souls, the sweet councils to which you have led her on her little way. Today, I know that you love me, and that in your immense love you behave towards me as with a little child. Oh, how you deserve to be loved in return! From now on I have decided to follow in your footsteps as you wish, and so that each of my steps conforms to your Will, I wish, oh my God, that you grant me this favor: Give me St. Therese of the infant Jesus is my guide, so that she can teach me to love you as I ought, since I am very ignorant. Grant me also the grace to persevere in your love right to the end, so as to love you afterwards eternally, in the homeland of love reserved for those who love you.”Van becomes the little spiritual brother of St Therese
Soon afterwards, Van went on foot to a nearby hill to pray and read. Suddenly, in the silence, he was startled by a voice that was calling him. “Van, Van, my dear little brother!” But, no one was around him! The voice spoke again: “Van, my dear little brother!”‘I was stunned and a little troubled, but I remained calm and guessed immediately that this voice which called me was a supernatural voice—-I then let out or hurried cry of joy—“Oh, it's my sister Therese!”—“Yes, it is indeed your sister, Therese... From now on, you will personally be my little brother, just as you have chosen me to be your big sister... From this day on, our two souls will be just one soul, in God's one love... from this moment I will let you know all my beautiful thoughts on love that which has occurred in my life, and has transformed me in the infinite love of God.... it is God himself, who has arranged this meeting. God wants the lessons of love that He taught me before in the secret of my soul to live on in this world, and He has deigned to choose you as a little secretary to carry out His work, which He wishes to entrust to you.... ”

This first appearance of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus went on for quite sometime, and there were many other appearences of St Therese who became a "spiritual director" to Brother Van. So those interested should read "The Autobiography of Marcel Van" to read all of the intercessions of St Therese in the life of Br. Marcel Van.

However, before leaving Van on this first occasion, St. Therese says in closing: ‘I love you because you are a soul who is a member of my friends of Love. As for you my little brother, my only wish is to see accomplished the works that the divine Love desires so ardently for you. So, little brother, listen to me: from now on in your relations with our heavenly Father, do not fail to follow my advice. But for now it is late, allow me to end our conversation here, since it is already mealtime. Tam and Hien are waiting for you, and Tam is getting impatient..... I am giving you a kiss.....We will have plenty of opportunities to talk together again. And we can do it no matter where, without fear that anyone might know.’“Therese stopped talking, and I was like someone coming out of a dream; half anxious and half happy, and when she said ‘ I am giving you a kiss’ , I immediately felt as if a gentle breeze was touching my face. And I was overcome by such a joy that I momentarily lost consciousness. Some of this sweet joy stays with me today, but I do not know what to compare it with exactly.”

From then on, St Therese became Van’s close companion and spiritual director, intimately guiding him in his spiritual life and his ascent towards God.

Rhoda Wise lived in Ohio with her husband and daughter. She was a Protestant who was in the last stages 0f stomach cancer when St Therese interceeded for her in a remarkable way.

Through the extraordinary intercession of St Therese, she was miraculously cured of stomach cancer and also a complex lower leg fracture, which caused her to be bedridden. Rhoda also had a remarkable conversion and ended up becoming a Catholic, and through the grace of God she later became a remarkable mystic and stigmatist, and lead countless souls to God. Here is a summary of the extraordinary intercession of St Therese in her life. We will begin with a few of her Diary entries that were written before her miraculous cure:

March 25: "…I feel tonight as if even God has forgotten me. I just cannot bear anymore. I know I am going to be in terrible misery if I go home and do not have someone to do my dressings all the time. [Rhoda had what the doctors believed to be stomach cancer, with an open wound in her abdomen that continuously leaked acidic stomach fluids, which caused her painful burning in this area -editor]. I know I cannot get the care I need, for it takes money to do that and there isn't any ... Oh God, I wonder what the outcome will be. You have never failed me yet dear Jesus, and I know that you won't now. When the clouds were darkest and I was in despair you always showed me a way out, so I'll just trust that you to take me out of this .... "

In April her intense suffering continued, mixed with deep faith and prayer.
April 20: "…I am praying so hard to St. Therese and she is going to help me. She seems so close to me. I am not laughing now, Little Flower, but trusting and praying I may be helped. I could look at your beautiful picture all day. All I do is look at your picture and whisper a prayer for help. I know you are listening to me. Won't you please help me?"

In her diary on May 16 she writes: “…It is awful to be like this. God, if I am not to get well, let me die right now. Each day I wish there would be no tomorrow. I did not think it possible for anyone to suffer so much. This drainage about sets me crazy. If I could go to sleep for just one night it would be heaven for me. Little Flower and Jesus, I am praying so hard for you to make me well, and if that is not to be, let me die at once. These dressings are terrible. No one wants to do them. I can hardly do them anymore either."

Miraculous cure
June 28, 1939: "I guess everyone will say I am dreaming again or seeing things. What happened to me was done by no dream. I saw Jesus again last night standing in my bedroom door. While I looked at Him, He said, 'Here I am as I promised.'St. Therese, the Little Flower, was right by Him.She came to my bedside. She wanted the cover off me. I pushed it off. She then wanted the dressings off, so I pushed them off. She put her hand on my stomach and said, 'You doubted me before. You have been tried in the fire and not found wanting. Faith cures all things.' She walked back to Jesus and when I looked at Him He said,'I will come again. There is work yet to be done.'They vanished. I looked at my stomach. I was entirely healed. Not one drop of anything had even come out of my stomach. That awful irritation and everything was gone. What my feelings were I can never tell…."

But Rhoda also had another serious health problem. She had severely broken her foot and ankle one night when she inadvertantly stepped into a sewer hole. The doctors tried repairing the damage to her lower leg and ankle by repeatedly putting various leg casts upon it, but could not seem to repair the severe damage to the bones and surrounding ligaments. She was therefore confined to her bed and unable to walk. In her joy of being cured of her stomach cancer wound, she understandably hadn't even thought about asking St. Therese to obtain a cure also for her foot, because the appearence of Jesus and the Saint along with the instantaneous cure of her abdomen completely astounded her, and filled her heart and soul with unimaginable joy!

The Miraculous Cure of Her Foot –The Second Miracle
Rhoda writes again in her Diary:
Aug. 10, 1939: ".....Tomorrow I go in the hospital again. God, may this be the last cast, and if it is Thy Will, may my foot be straight and may I walk."
The cast they applied to Rhoda's foot was to be on until November 10. Rhoda's doctor told her there would be a person ready who would fit her with a brace as soon as the cast came off, and that she would be wearing the brace for the rest of her life. The doctor and everyone else was about to see for a second time that Jesus and St Therese had other plans.
Aug. 15, 1939:[Feast of the Assumption on the Blessed Virgin Mary] "Oh, what a day! I was so happy to begin with because the Little Flower came to me and cured my foot. I was sitting up in bed and crying because my foot hurt me so much.The Little Flower came and said, 'That is a little thing. Stand up and walk.' I stood right on my feet and the cast broke and I stepped right out of it. She then said, 'Go to church now' .... "

Another miracle! Who can imagine the joy of Rhoda, her family and all who knew her! Her husband George nearly fainted when he walked into the room and saw her standing on her own, the cast shattered all over the floor. Needless to say this second miracle drew a flood of persons wanting to see and talk to the woman of the miracle. Her apostolate of leading souls to God began and God increased his grace upon her by giving her the stigmata and other mystical gifts.

Therese Neumann was a well known German mystic and stigmatist who lived in Germany from 1898-1962. St Therese obtained an extraordinary cures for her both on the day of her Beatification, and on the day of her Canonisation.

The first miraculous intercession of Therese of Lisieux
After four years of suffering with paralysis and blindness, a very joyful day was approaching for Therese. Sunday, April 29, 1923 was the day scheduled for the beatification ceremonies in Rome of the Carmelite nun, the saintly Therese of Lisieux, who had promised before her death to let fall from Heaven a "shower of roses." In the bedroom of Therese, flowers were arranged to adorn the pic­ture of the “Little Flower” which Therese had received from her father. Many days before she had begun a Novena in spiritual preparation for the day when the Little Flower would be officially numbered among the beatified.

The day of the Beatification arrived and as the ceremonies at St. Peter's in Rome were draw­ing to a close, the newly beatified Therese of Lisieux "showered a bouquet of roses" on her devoted sufferer; at the instant of beatification, Therese found that her eyesight was completely restored.

The second miraculous intercession of Therese of Lisieux
On May 17, 1925, when Therese of Lisieux was canonized and became officially recognized as a saint of the Catholic Church, Therese Neumann heard her voice. Softly and dis­tinctly, the saint said to her, "Therese, do you not want to become well? Therese answered, ''Anything is all right with me: to be healthy, to remain sick, to die, whatever is the will of God.” The voice continued, seemingly wanting to test her spirit- "Therese, would it not cause joy to you if you received some relief of your suffering, at least to be able to sit up and walk again?” Therese answered, "Anything that comes from God causes joy in me.” Again the voice said: "Therese, I shall obtain for you a small joy. You shall now be able to sit up and to walk, but you will still have much to suffer. However, be not afraid; you have received help through me in the past and I will also help you in the future.”

As St Therese of Lisieux was speaking, it was as though two strong hands lifted Therese from her bed, and after being paralyzed for six and one half years, she found herself completely healed. Not only was she healed of the paralysis, but of the gaping bedsores on her body as well. According to medical reports, some of those sores were deep enough to expose her bone. In a matter of sec­onds, the sores were completely healed and were covered with a fresh layer of skin.A third intercession of St Therese of Lisieux occurred on November 13, 1925, when Therese again became very ill with an acute attack of appendicitis, for which her Physician ordered that she be taken to the hospital at once. As arrangements were being made, St Therese again appeared to her in a vision, and obtained for her an instantaneous cure. These extraordinary graces inspired in Therese Neumann a deep and most profound trust and confidence in God, which was very much needed in what was soon to come in her life.

One year later Therese Neuman was to receive the holy Stigmata during Lent, 1926.

St Therese appears on two occasions to the Servant of God, Maria Esperanza

Maria Esperanza de Bianchini (1928-2004) of Betania, Venezuela is a very recent mystic who cause for Beatification-Canonisation is currently at the stage of "Servant of God" in the Catholic church. Maria Esperanza had two very notable visions of St Therese of Lisieux, and perhaps others.

The first vision of St Therese to Maria occured when Maria was only five years old. The vision took place when Maria was at a port saying farewell to her mother who was leaving for an extended trip. Quoting from the book "A Bridge to Heaven- Interviews with Maria Esperanza of Betania" by Michael H. Brown, Maria explains this first appearence of St Therese "The Little Flower":

"...When we were at the port saying good-bye to my mother, I was on the dock and everyone was saying good-bye to my mother, and I stared at the river that was coming very strongly at us. I was watching waves that were really strong and were going up and down. And I remained there, staring. I had a pain in my heart, feeling as if I couldn't separate myself from my mother. When I saw Saint Therese ... it seems like a distant dream right now. I saw Saint Therese smiling with these big beautiful blue eyes. How precious. And she stayed there staring at me."

[The person conducting the interview asks Maria] 'Many visionaries see Jesus, Mary, or other heavenly visitors in different ways. The Virgin often comes in different appearances according to the culture and circumstances. We realize that heavenly entities can make themselves appear any way they want to. For example, Saint Therese had brown eyes, yet you saw them differently.'

"There was such a blue, an intense blue in her eyes, almost green. It was such an intense color, it tore at my heart. And she smiled. She arose from the waters, came from the waters and smiled at me. I'm trying to recall everything now, when I was there looking, watching Saint Therese coming up from the water with a rose in her hand. It was a very, very beautiful red rose. And she threw it at me. And I moved around. I don't know how I did it, but I caught it in my hands. And I was so little at the time. I was playing, and I ran to my mother who was leaving, and we were all saying good-bye to her. And I said, "Mom, Saint Therese, Saint Therese!' And my mother said to me, "Oh, my love, God gave you this rose!'"

Maria is given the Stigmata for the first time through the interecession of St ThereseThe second appearence of St Therese in the life of Maria Esperanza occured in 1954 when Maria was 26 years old. She was living in a convent at that time, hoping to become a religious Sister. Quoting again from the aforementioned book, Maria states:

"One day when we were there in prayer, on October 3, 1954, I saw from the altar after Mass ended, there was something incredible that I felt. I saw Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. She threw a rose to me, and this rose, I tried to catch it, just as I had done when I was five years old. But it was a fresh rose. It happened that it pinched me right in my hand, and I saw blood start to come out of my hand.I got very scared, and I felt at that moment that He told me I should not be here anymore, that I should go to Rome to see the Holy Father, because the Lord wants me in the world. "You will be a mother". And they [the Sisters] sent me to Rome. I didn't know what to tell the sisters. It made me ashamed. I felt very bad. I cried alot. It was very difficult, but I had to leave."

St Therese appears to the Servant of God, Marthe Robin on three occasions

The Servant of God Marthe Robin was an extraordinary French mystic, stigmatist, and victim soul who suffered for over 50 years in union with Jesus for the conversion of souls. She died recently in 1981. There was quite a close connection between Thérèse and Marthe. Marthe was drawn to the Carmelite life as she entered her twenties, but this hope was frustrated by growing illness. However, in 1925 she received mystical visits from Thérèse on three occasions, and these had a profound effect on her.

October 3, 1926, the day of the first celebration of the feast of Saint Therese of Lisieux, who had been canonized the preceding year, Dr. Aristide Sallier of Saint-Uze visited and found Marthe in a coma. "There is nothing more that can be done," was all he said. The Parish Priest, Fr. Faure could only replace the doctor at the bedside to administer the Sacrament of the Sick to "his parishioner," as he called her. It was the second time that she had received it. Everyone expected that each day would bring her death. The coma lasted three weeks.

Apparitions of Saint Therese of Lisieux
But while the coma progressed and death seemed to be imminent, Marthe experienced three apparitions of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. The Carmelite of Lisieux revealed to her that she would not die yet and that she would recover, and that she was to be a victim soul who would extend her mission throughout the entire world. Having surprisingly come out of her coma, Marthe confided the messages of St Therese to Fr. Finet, even adding, laughingly, "Oh that rascal, in the end, she's left it all to me!"

Thanks to a readers suggestion, we have an additional appearence of St Therese in a "dream" of St Faustina Kowalska in entry #150 of her Diary, "Divine Mercy in My Soul"

(150) "I want to write down a dream that I had about Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. I was still a novice at the time and was going through some difficulties which I did not know how to overcome. They were interior difficulties connected with exterior ones. I made novenas to various saints, but the situation grew more and more difficult. The sufferings it caused me were so great that I did not know how to go on living, but suddenly the thought occurred to me that I should pray to Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. I started a novena to this Saint, because before entering the convent I had had a great devotion to her. Lately I had somewhat neglected this devotion, but in my need I began again to pray with great fervor."

"On the fifth day of the novena, I dreamed of Saint Therese, but it was as if she were still living on earth. She hid from me the fact that she was a saint and began to comfort me, saying that I should not be worried about this matter, but should trust more in God. She said, "I suffered greatly, too," but I did not quite believe her and said, "It seems to me that you have not suffered at all." But Saint Therese answered me in a convincing manner that she had suffered very much indeed and said to me, "Sister, know that in three days the difficulty will come to a happy conclusion." When I was not very willing to believe her, she revealed to me that she was a saint. At that moment, a great joy filled my soul, and I said to her, "You are a saint?""Yes," she answered, "I am a saint. Trust that this matter will be resolved in three days:" And I said, "Dear sweet Therese, tell me, shall I go to heaven?" And she answered, "Yes, you will go to heaven, Sister." "And will I be a saint?" To which she replied, "Yes, you will be a saint." "But, little Therese, shall I be a saint as you are, raised to the altar?" And she answered, "Yes, you will be a saint just as I am, but you must trust in the Lord Jesus." I then asked her if my mother and father would go to heaven, will [unfinished sentence] And she replied that they would. I further asked, "And will my brothers and sisters go to heaven?" She told me to pray hard for them, but gave me no definite answer. I understood that they were in need of much prayer."

"This was a dream. And as the proverb goes, dreams are phantoms; God is faith. Nevertheless, three days later the difficulty was solved very easily, just as she had said. And everything in this affair turned out exactly as she said it would. It was a dream, but it had its significance."

In accordance with the words of St Therese in her dream, Maria Faustina Kowalska was raised to the altars and formally canonised a Saint on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 30, 2000.

Lastly there is the extraordinary intercession of St Therese in the life of Blessed Elena Aiello, the Italian mystic and stigmatic who was recently Beatified on September 14, 2011.

St Therese appeared and assisted Blessed Elena on several occasions, miraculously assisting her in finding the house that was to become an orphanage for young girls, along with being a convent for Mother Elena and her religious sisters.

One day Elena went on a bus and was pondering where she was going to find the house she needed for the foundation of an orphanage for young girls. She had beseeched her patron saints and particularly St. Therese of the Infant Jesus. A young Carmelite nun walked on the bus and the two struck up a conversation. The nun asked her if she was looking for a house. Elena, thinking it was one of the sisters in the area, kissed her hand and told her how hard it was to find one. The nun smiled sweetly and said, “Come, I will show you the house.”

When they got off the bus, the nun pointed to a balcony and said the woman has an offer of 260 lire but will take 250 from you. When Elena looked back at the nun, she noticed there was an unusual glow around her and then saw a bouquet of roses cascading from the crucifix in her hand. Suddenly the nun faded away and Elena recognized that she was speaking to St. Therese of Lisieux and full of excitement went to speak to the landlady. Everything was exactly as St. Therese had said. The landlady accepted the 250 lire. Elena told the Archbishop and he suggested that Elena name their first house in Cosenza after St. Therese, which Blessed Elena gladly did.

St Therese makes another appearence
One time St. Therese of the Infant Jesus appeared to several of the little ones who were praying while sewing in the work room. Sister Elena rushed downstairs to the shouts, “We have seen the Carmelite Saint!”
Upon arriving, Sister Elena too saw the saint smiling at her, and she knew that St Therese's presence was a sign of her heavenly concern and an assurance of her ongoing assistance for Mother Elena's orphanage and her fledgling religious community of Sisters.

The third intercession of St Therese was in fact a double miracle. God's Divine Providence never failed to take care of what was needed for the orphanage, even by means of extraordinary interventions. On September 11, 1935, Sister Elena spent a painful night. It so happened that there was no food on hand in the kitchen for the noon meal. Sister Angela asked Mother Elena for some money to purchase food, and Elena replied that she had none, but encouraged Sister Angela to trust in God and that He would surely provide for His children. In the mean­time a Priest came in, requested to say Mass and walked to the Sacristy right away. Not having anything on hand, Sister Elena told Sister Angela to first go and hear Mass and that somehow the Lord would provide. Elena's prayer in union with that of the Sisters and of the orphan girls, was quickly heard. For right after the Elevation, a strong fragrance spread through the Chapel.

Sister Elena was at the time reciting the Office of the Blessed Virgin from the second page of her prayer book. Suddenly she spotted a 50 lire bill between the prayer card of Our Lady of Sorrows and that of St. Teresa. She was positive that nothing of the kind had previously been in her prayer book as she had re­cited the very same prayer, on that very same page, on the previ­ous evening.

Anyway, after Mass and after handing the 50 lire bill for the day's needs, Sister Elena with all the girls went back to the Chapel, and there within earshot, she prayed to God to let her find another 50 lire in her prayer book at the same place as an unquestionable proof that the first 50 lire had not been forgotten by someone, but that they were actually the gift of Divine Provi­dence. During the day, some of the bigger girls and even one or two of the Sisters went searching through that prayer book which had been left at its place. In the evening, when the Community assembled in the Chapel for the evening prayers, while the "Con­fiteor" was being recited, the same kind of a fragrance as in the morning was felt. Elena got greatly excited. She didn't dare open her prayer book, but passed it on to Sister Teresa to do so. Sister obeyed and there were the additional 50 lire between the two prayer cards, at the same place. In the white circle there was a green handwriting, 50 + 50 = 100 with some letters of the Greek alphabet.

The following morning Elena related the incident to her Confessor, Canon Mazzuca, who insisted on looking at the 50 lire banknotes-No. 01670 and 0039. However, the inscription on the white circle had completely disappeared. Father Benjamin Mazza, who wished to retain those banknotes, exchanged them with one for 100 lire, which is now in the possession of Blessed Elena’s Community.

~St Therese of the Child Jesus, pray for us!-For those interested, there is an excellent FREE audiobook here which details a number of miracles through the intercession of St Therese that were used for her beatification, or were reported to her Sisters at the Carmel of Lisieux. The stories come from the book "Soeur Therese of Lisieux, The Little Flower of Jesus" edited by Father TN Taylor.
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"I will spend my heaven doing good upon the earth. I will let fall a shower of roses"-St Therese of Lisieux in her Autobiography "The Story of a Soul"

42 comments:

Anonymous
said...

What a neat article, Glenn! And I especially liked the picture of St. Therese with Brother Van!

St. Therese is certainly the great friend of mystical souls, isn't she?

And BTW, I just sent you an email to let you know that I'm still 'slogging away' with the Blessed Dina Belanger article. She was a friend of St. Therese, too, though she didn't have any visions of her. I'll give you a little 'sneak preview', however: Our Lord gave St. Therese to Blessed Dina as the guardian of her interior life after she entered the convent in Sillery, Quebec.

Hi Barb,Thanks so much for working on the Blessed Dina Belange article. I am really looking forward to reading it!

And, thanks for your kind comments on the St Therese article. I just found out that the Servant of God Maria Esperanza also received the intercession of St Therese on a few occasions, so I will be adding this to the article soon.

O Glenn thank you...sigh...thank you for filling hearts with so much joy and love with these divine stories. Thank you for everything you do in and for the mystical Body of Christ, His Kingdom here on earth.

Glenn, You are a saint already ! So many must have come to their senses going through these wonderful pages . I suggest your fervent readers to read the messages given to Ned Dougherty available free on missionofangels.org and then click on Fast Lane to Heaven . They are spectacular. Full of Hope and Love. Thanks for everything .

I love this article, thank you so much. I love Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face. Saint Faustina wrote also an experience she had wiht this great Saint. In her diary we can find it in the number 150. Thank you for putting all this information together, I'm sure it will be very useful to many souls. May God bless you.

Dear Anonymous,Thank you so much for the information about the appearence of St Therese in the dream of St Faustina Kowalska, as found in her Diary. I just added this information to the article above.

I sincerely appreciate the information. Literally 3 of the 6 mystics listed in this article were suggested by readers. I myself knew of only 3, and I could never compile such information alone, and so I greatly appreciate the input and suggestions of others.

Thanks again to you and to all who provide information and suggestions.

I've been through a lot of hardship lately. I have been reading about St Therese of Lisieux and am immediately drawn to her. Today after visiting church, I was walking down the street, and I asked for a sign. I was expecting to see a flower but there were none around. Then as I turned the corner and stopped at the pedestrian lights, there was a youngish lady, could have been late 20s with curly shoulder length blonde hair dressed in a bright floral dress with roses motif all over it! She caught my eye and smiled as if to say, "Why do you look so surprised?" The lights turned green and in a second she was gone. I then googled images of St Therese and the resemblance is very striking! I dont know what to make of this but I am very encouraged.

One mystic for you to investigate would be Veronica Lueken of Bayside, NY. Our Lady and Jesus appeared to her with messages for us in these times and times to come. St. Therese of Lisieux (who is also my confirmation saint) also appeared to her. I have read most of these messages online at Roses.org ( Our Lady of the Roses, Mary, Help of Mothers) and they are all in line with Church dogma, and the stories of saints and mystics you have posted on your blogs. However, the Church has ignored her completely, but Our Lady does talk about restoring Church altars and traditional reverence for Her Son in the Holy Eucharist.This woman also suffered much.I ask that you investigate these visions and messages, and try to find fault in the loving admonishments of Our Mother.

Thank you for your blogs about these saints and the stories of their lives. May God bless you and your family.

The reason that I can't add her to this website is that the Church, through the local Bishop, has made a negative decision as to the authenticity of her revelations.

So, since this website endeavors to always be in communion with the judgement of the Catholic church and its teachings, I am sure therefore that you will understand why I cannot add Veronica Leuken and the allged apparitions at Bayside.

Thanks again and may God bless you and yours loved ones.-Glenn Dallaire

Saint Thérèse is immensely powerful. Although being a Catholic, I have never had any mystical experience except the one I'm going to share. Some years ago some relics of the great saint came to my home city of Évora, about 120 km West of Lisbon, Portugal. I was bored because my wife and daughter were shopping, so I decided to head for the city's cathedral. Évora is an archdiocese. There were lots of tourists hanging around. An American tourist asked me what was all that movement about and I told them what was going on. He seemed clueless. I entered the cathedral. There were many people inside. I remember seeing a mother with her child in her arms leaning towards the glass and golden container where the relics were, so that the boy could touch the glass. Suddenly, I felt the strangest feeling of my live. It seemed so natural and at the same time so unusual. I felt as if a breeze was blowing in my face, and I had a brief moment of extreme joy and commotion. I immediately wept. It was a kind of shock, but a tender and gentle one. I felt overwhelmed. After recollecting myself, I prayed for a while (the original aim of my visit) and rejoined my wife and daughter in the shopping district. I almost forgot about this – can't say why – and only much later did I describe it to my wife. I think that's why I said it all felt so natural. The whole thing stayed in the back of my mind until now – and probably for the rest of my life. My beloved father had a great devotion to Saint Thérèse.

Hi Anonymous,You right. Years ago when I began studying the lives of the mystics and victim souls I soon discovered that the majority of them are women. I have a few ideas why, but God alone knows for sure.

I think overall women have a greater capacity to love and to suffer, and in the eyes of the world they are also the weakest and tend to be more simple, and we see in the Scriptures how God normally chooses the simple and weakest for His works.

But I will say that while there are many more women mystics than men, the Catholic Church has also been blessed with some extraordinary male mystics, such as St Padre Pio (who bore the stigmata permanenrtly for 50 years and 3 days), St Francis of Assisi (another stigmatic)and St John of the Cross, to name just a few that have spanned the centuries.

Thanks again for your comments and may God bless you and your loved ones,Glenn Dallaire

I have had several blessings from Saint Therese. One was a hugh downpour of rose oil on my rose bedspread recently. (it stays wet). This morning I was very discouraged and walking to work when I noticed a rose lying right there on the sidewalk.

I recently was blessed to travel to Lisieux for a few hours. The person I went with is not Christian and not interested in the miracle of St. Therese's life. As we rushed through her home and the Basilica, I felt tense and wished I had been able to spend hours and days there. I never got to the Carmel and Therese's grave. As we waited for the cab to take us back to the train station, I felt very sad. I looked down and there, lying on the sidewalk a couple feet from where we were waiting for the taxi, was a rose...one lovely rose. I still cry with happiness when I look at the now dried rose lying on my dresser in front of the Smiling Virgin.

I am attending Family Cathechsim for my daughter to do her First Holy Communion. She was given St Therese to do a project on. I began to look on the internet to get information. I came across this blog. After reading the article about the Intersessions of St Therese I began to read the comments. I read your response to one of the comment :"Hi Anonymous,You right. Years ago when I began studying the lives of the mystics and victim souls I soon discovered that the majority of them are women. I have a few ideas why, but God alone knows for sure.

I think overall women have a greater capacity to love and to suffer, and in the eyes of the world they are also the weakest and tend to be more simple, and we see in the Scriptures how God normally chooses the simple and weakest for His works.

But I will say that while there are many more women mystics than men, the Catholic Church has also been blessed with some extraordinary male mystics, such as St Padre Pio (who bore the stigmata permanenrtly for 50 years and 3 days), St Francis of Assisi (another stigmatic)and St John of the Cross, to name just a few that have spanned the centuries.

Thanks again for your comments and may God bless you and your loved ones,Glenn Dallaire

June 11, 2011 2:56 PM "

As I began to read the second sentence it became very clear to me that I had read this before. I read the entire response and was sure I had read it before and recently. I often times Google things online and stuble upon articles.For the life of me I cannot remember where, when or why I had read this. I had never been to this blog before But I am sure I read that resonse before today. Very strange, that I can't remember, but I now feel a strong connection to your blog and St Therese.

I was in the hospital the night before "routine" gall bladder surgery. My mom was sitting by my bed and I had a picture of St. Therese appear in my mind's eye. I told mom this wasn't going to be routine surgery and asked her to pray with me. I had horrific complications, and was deathly ill for two years. But I do want to thank St. Therese for forewarning me and helping me to recover my life. This meant a lot to me as my elderly parents needed my help. I thank her and ask God to accept my suffering in union with that of Christ's to further the miracles St. Therese promised: "I will spend my Heaven doing good upon Earth." Keep helping, St. Therese!

Pope Saint Pius X said of Saint Therese of Lisieuxseveral years before her canonization, that she is the greatest Saint of modern times. What a beautifullyprophetic statement from the Holy Father; who died In 1914 at the outbreak of World War I.

Thank you for this wonderful website! I am having been searching for a website such as this to renew and strengthen my faith.

St. Therese of Lisieux has so often answered my prayers that I cannot but rejoice and be thankful to this saint who so often intercedes on my behalf. Six years ago as I placed my hands on the relics of St. Therese (they had come to New York), I implored her to watch over my grandmother Gemma who the previous week had been placed in a nursing home. I asked the Little Flower to watch over my grandmother when the time came for her to go to her eternal reward, that it would be peacefully in her sleep with Therese beside her.Two years later, I received a phone call from the nursing home telling me my grandmother had passed away in her sleep that morning. I immediately rushed to the nursing home and was met by the most beautiful scent of roses. I said my prayers, kissed my grandmother one final time And soon came to discover that the day my grandmother died was indeed October 1st, the feast day of St. Therese! Thank you St. Therese.

Thanks for your wonderful website. I was born in the 60's on Oct. 3rd, which was the feast day of St. Therese. I've been touched many times by her through the years. I've received roses, rose cards for all my birthdays, etc. I always admired the gorgeous stained glass window in my home church which depicted St. Therese with roses and the words, "I will spend my heaven doing good upon the earth." I read a book about her when I was young that changed my life. I named my youngest daughter Angela Therese Mary... I inherited my Grandmother's large framed picture of St. Therese. For her first Holy Communion, my 2nd oldest daughter was given a Rosary with a relic of St. Therese on the centerpiece. A few years ago, my 2nd oldest daughter's baby girl died & she had to go to the hospital. It was very sad, but God gave us signs through that tough time to show His great love, including meeting a nurse from France. She was helping my daughter & asked about my daughter's daughter. When my daughter told her the name of her daughter, she exclaimed that she had just dreamt of a baby girl of that name the night before! She took a liking to my daughter who looks somewhat French from her ancestry. She told us that when she was a young girl in France, she & her school mates visited St. Therese's home & convent. She later moved to the USA & married & had a son. She said that when her son was 15 months old, he got very sick & he had to go & stay in the hospital. She & her husband stayed with him there & she stayed overnight, sleeping on a cot. She said when her son was 15 months old, she had a dream that he was reaching & looking up towards Heaven, where St. Therese stood with her arms open to him. She wasn't sure what to make of the dream. She said her son was sick for months & when he was 18 months old, she had another dream. In this dream, he reached his arms up to St. Therese in Heaven & she lifted him up into her arms in Heaven. St. Therese was holding her baby boy in Heaven! She said when she awoke from her dream, no one had to tell her that her son passed away. She knew. She walked down the hall to the room where the hospital staff had taken her son during the night & already knew that he had passed before they even told her. However, thanks to St. Therese, she was at peace. Furthermore, she decided to become a nurse following that whole experience. Thanks be to God, she was the nurse who helped my daughter & me with the death of my daughter's baby girl, (my granddaughter), & her dream of St. Therese was most comforting! St. Therese has touched many lives. It's funny, because over the last few days I've been noticing roses...& almost as if time's slowed while I wondered about the significance of them!... twice I saw was a huge yellow rose on a big 18 wheel truck & today I saw a woman's shirt covered with red & pink roses & the roses around my home just started blooming. I wasn't thinking of St Therese, but now I happened upon your article! St. Therese, please, pray for us! May God richly bless you all. Gail :)

Hi Gail,It is nice to meet you. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing these beautiful and inspiring stories of the heavenly intercesssion of St Therese. May God be blessed in His glorious Saints! SI pray that St .Therese may conitinue to guide and inspire you and your loved ones. Therese, pray for us!-Glenn Dallaire

Thank you, Glenn. Thank you for your hard work to make such a wonderful, inspiring website. I have visited your website, countless times & have been enriched & inspired each & every time. May God richly bless you. St. Therese pray for us. :)Gail :)

Two years ago I had the privilege of visiting Lisieux. I was greatly influenced by two very fine books: THE SAINT WHO LOVED US by Arthur Cavanaugh UNDER THE TORRENT OF HIS LOVE by Fr. Marie- Eugene de l'Enfant-Jesus

The spirit of "Little Therese" so overwhelmed me during my visit! While I am no mystic, I have been on the receiving end of "the gift of tears" ever since my pilgrimage to Lisieux: when I can feel the presence of St. Therese, acting in my life or in the lives of others, I invariably shed a few tears of joy. It's not a gift I would have asked for, and I've had to endure occasionally tearing up in front of wondering colleagues, but it is very definitely a gift Therese wanted to give me, one I am very grateful for.

Reading these accounts and reading the posted comments it is so obvious to me that my "best friend" is busily acting as "best friend" to millions of others who turn to her.

Pope John XXIII used to call Therese the "little tugboat" that gets the big ships safely into harbor. May she be always for me, for you, and for your readers that reliable tugboat bringing each one of us fully into the presence of Jesus, our merciful Lord and Savior.

I have to share this story . Last saturday I was for the first time on this site to read about a saint. And while I was reading I saw the picture of Saint Therese on this site . I always have a resistance about here because my mother is named after her by my grandmother and I don't gave a great bound with my mother. But when I see the foto of Saint - Therese I have always a feeling that she wants that I look at here and talk with here in my prairs. Like this time saterday , I looked at the foto and I felt a sadness that I wouldn't like to read the article. I stopped reading and was busy again with my work in my shop when suddenly there came two young scouts with a rose and asked if I would change the rose for something else. I was amazed and very greatfull and thanked Therese and the heavens for this sign. The first thing that I did was read this article about here. I will keep the rose and never turn away from here.

Thanks Glen for this great blog. My tears keep flowing while 'm reading the blog as well as the comments posted. St Therese has been a friend to me when I was still studying in a Catholic School and her book was my companion for the 4 years I was there. It's been 14 years and only from time to time that I call upon her. And today, it keeps ringing on my head her words, "SPENDING HEAVEN ON EARTH" as if she's telling me I've forgotten her. I've forgotten to ask for her intercession through all the days I've been suffering in my heart disease.I've been keeping a stampita of her in my wallet. I promise to remember her all the days onwards. Whether, she heal me or not, she'll be my friend for the rest of my life. St. Therese, pls spend some of your days doing good upon my loveones please.

Visit from Saint Therese of LisieuxBy Claude Ziad Bayeh In the year 2002

My name is Claude Ziad Bayeh, I am from Lebanon, I was born in 1982, and I had experienced a great supernatural love from Saint Therese de Liseux in the year 2002 before her visit to Lebanon, and I would like to share it with you as following:

1- Lebanon prepared the visit of the sacred body of Saint Therese of Lisieux which held on 2002-09-01: Before the month of September in 2002, a channel in my country called “Tele Lumiere” began to prepare the coming of the sacred body of Saint Therese for approximately 2 months, and there was a special program on TV that talked about Saint Therese de Liseux, her life on earth, her miracles after her death, and about experiences which happened with Lebanese people from a direct intercession of Saint Therese de Liseux such as miracles, healings, visions etc… and this program was broadcasted weekly until the month of September.

2- What happened before the visit of Saint Therese? Before watching the program on TV, I had never heard about Saint Therese. When I watched the program for the first time, I was attracted by the program and by the personality of Saint Therese so I began to watch this program weekly. I started to adore Saint Therese more and more every day and I began to speak to her and to pray to her daily. I felt that she is the only person that has many common things with me and she has a spiritual life similar to mine.

3- Saint Therese visited me before coming to Lebanon: The day before her visit (on 2002-08-31), I was watching a film about Saint Therese around 22:00 in the evening, and once the film had finished at 23:00, I turned off the TV and I said to Saint Therese “Therese, don’t forget to visit me when you visit Lebanon”. I went to my bedroom and I laid my back on the bed, I was holding a cross in my hand, and instantly after laying my back on the bed I felt a supernatural love which can’t be compared to any other love in the existence, this love was so powerful that I was not able to sleep the whole night, instead I was extremely happy and astonished by the power of this love, this love was accompanied with supernatural peace, safety, joy and heavenly thoughts. I began to ask myself “what is this love? Is it the same love that Saint Therese shared with Jesus? Am I in heaven? But how? I am laying on my bed, I wish to see this love in my whole life, etc…”. (Part 2 below)

(Part 2 -continued)The supernatural love touched all my body head to toe and especially my heart, I felt that my mother Saint Mary and Jesus are next to me. I didn’t see them in my eyes but I felt their love and their hands touched my heart. I can’t describe in words what happened to me because these things don’t exist in the nature and in the life, but what I can say that this love is much more powerful than a million of Hydrogen bombs of the size of TSAR BOMB.

The heavenly thoughts that came to my head were about the love of God about the heaven and other things, I was so pleased with these thoughts and I decided to write them on a paper because at that time I had been writing everything that happened to me, but unfortunately I was afraid to lose these thoughts and this love. So I decided to continue in this love.

These supernatural and powerful love, peace and safety continued until the morning at 4:00Am. And after that time the love, peace and safety were taken away from me instantly. I was so refreshed and I continued my day as usual, I started to write what happened to me but I forgot all the thoughts that entered into my head during the night. I began to say “I wish I could remember the thoughts, I am so sorry about forgetting them”.

I was not able to explain what happened to me, I didn’t see in my eyes anything but my body, my heart and my brain experienced a heavenly love, this love is so pure, so powerful, it doesn’t contain any lust, it is beyond the matter and all the existence, it is accompanied with a supernatural peace, safety and joy. I knew that Saint Therese visited me before visiting Lebanon, I didn’t expect such thing because I never asked for it, but what I told her was just not to forget to visit me when she visited Lebanon.

4-Influence of the experience on my life: This experience had a great impact on my life, I became to adore Saint Therese more and more, I consider her as my only beloved sister, my only beloved friend, and she is my heart and my only love on earth. I have never loved anyone in my whole life as I have loved Saint Therese, I call her in many names such as “Therese, Teresia, Tereza, Tarrouza, Teresina, Touti, Tarrouzati, my heart, my love, etc…”, I was influenced by her life on earth and by her doctrine, and I turned to live a life with approximately the same doctrine as hers but in my way.

5-Prayer: My sweet God Jesus, I always thank you for this experience and for other experiences that you have showed me in my whole life, I thank you for your love, I don’t deserve it but I know that you love me so much because you created me, I ask you to accomplish your will in my life, and I promise you that I will glorify your name in my whole life and in all things I do and especially in the science, in the music and in my pain.

I thank also my sister Saint Therese for her boon, I wish to experience such things in my whole life but it is not my authority to do such things but it is the authority of Jesus.

I love you so much Saint Therese and I will love you even with all the sadness in my heart and all bad things that happened to me in my whole life, and I wish to see you again and to give you a hug and kisses. Please don’t forbid me from your love. I present to you all my relatives and all people who I love, and ask you to protect them and help them in their spiritual life and to intercede for them before Jesus.

Let’s pray for all people who don’t know the love of Jesus, and let’s demand from Jesus to forgive their sins and to let them see his bright light and his powerful love. Amen.

Excellent website!So informative.I, too, have a deep devotion to St.Therese of Lisieux.I received a healing of Multiple Sclerosis.I just returned from Italy and I was present at the Beatification of Pope Paul 6th . He and his family were deeply devoted to St.Therese.He was baptized on the day she died ( September 30th 1897.)

I assumed it would be okay. Would you perhaps link back to the audiobook as an additional resource on St Therese, it covers various miracles used at her beatification or reported to her Sisters at the Carmel of Lisieux.

As a long practicing catholic I had never heard of St. Therese, but have this story to relate.

Several weeks ago we had returned from the mountains. It was evening and we were in a verdant area near the church. I smelled a fragrance of fresh flowers and thought it must have rained. Continuing on to the highway the fragrance persisted, and I asked my friend if she smelled the fragrance, but she did not.

I often read at night, and had started downloading religious books as opposed to the Frank Sinatra bio. I was a couple hundred pages in to The History of a Soul when I finally made the connection to in prior incident described.

I began the novena to St. Therese for my son, and initially gave no thought to finding flowers after 5 days. When I reconsidered though I was skeptical as here in Panama we are in a drought combined with the dry season. I was stunned to find dozens of tiny purple flowers growing near the house. In addition I also found three large red rose petals strangely laying in the street and I have kept them.

I can only conclude that time is near, and I thank St. Therese for the wonderful joy and awareness she has brought me.

Dear Mr. Dallaire, I happened to read these articles today, the day Our Lady of Lourdes visited St. Bernadette. I've had a devotion to St. Therese and Jesus for over 40 years...I am now 58. When I visited Florida (to live for 6 months) a wonderful, miraculous event happened to me. I was blessed with an apparition of St. Therese. She was in full colour and 3D and her roses (red, white, pink and red) were sparkling like diamonds. She stood there for a full minute and a voice earlier had told me to get my camera and go sit outside. I knew that Jesus and St. Therese would outdo each other, but I didn't know what that meant and it didn't make sense to me. I don't know why I was blessed with her apparitions (a total of 3 times) but I am so so happy about it!! and she allowed me to take her photo each time she visited. I have documented everything about my journey if you are interested to see the photos..please email me a dlemaire309@gmail.com, sincerely

In re the comments about most mystics being women: These days many of us men (and a few women I suppose) are examining our consciences about how we may have been complicit in a culture that took advantage of women or aided it indirectly, sometimes by making light of harassment or excusing it.

It's sort of a limited "Warning," in a way. I can't recall such a social upheaval like this one in which some kinds of actions and motives are nearly universally condemned by the culture.

Last week I was crying because my sister refused to stay with my children so I can look for a jobit abroad. Am a single mum of two kids and mum died when I was 8 months and daddy when I was 24 years. I cried alot and asked God why he took mum but then I said He knows best and he has great plans for me. On Sunday after communion as I closed my eyes I saw a carmelite nun wearing like St Teresa stanning near the altar. I opened my eyes and closed again and I saw same and I knew it was her. Since then I have been wanting to know more about her although I like very much to call her when am praying. I know St Teresa of infant Jesus want to be my friend. St Terese of infant Jesus pray for me.

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"Why do you talk to me as if I am so far away? I am very near....in your heart.""Ask Me for love. Ask Me; I am burning with desire to give it to you""Talk to Me. For Me there is no sweeter prayer"-Words of our Lord to Gabrielle Bossis.